I started wakin’ up. Somethin’ soft ‘n warm was layin’ on me. The sun was peekin’ in through the blinds. Uh. My fuckin’ head hurt. Mouth tasted like a family of rats had just moved out, not bein’ able to stand it anymore. That warm thing layin’ on me moved. I opened my eyes and looked into the big pools of blue three inches away, and she said, “Somebody shit in my mouth.” We crawled offa the couch and went in the bathroom and used up about half the bottle of Listerine. She was lookin’ at me in the mirror as we brushed our teeth, and laughed, “Ya crazy sumbitch; a patriotic party!”

We climbed in the tub and gave each other a bath. Now, that’s the way to wake

up on a Sunday mornin’! I never got nothin’ outta goin’ to church when I was a kid, but bein’ that close to a naked Angel was a whole different story, and I felt like I had been bathed in the Light of The Lord. Shiny gawd damn clean! Somebody beat on the door and we quit playin’ around and got outta there. Carol ran in like somethin’ was chasin’ her, and we almost bumped into Abe. “Gawd dammit, I told her I wanted to get in there first. I’m gonna piss all over the floor! Get outta the way, I’ll piss offa the damn porch!”

We laughed as he jerked the door open and ran out. Shirley said, “Good thing we got up when we did.” Everyone else was awake too and ran in ‘n outta the bathroom for a while. My babe rooted around in the old fridge and got out a dozen eggs, bacon, some cheese, and the butter dish. Found a bag of potatoes under the sink, dug the bread outta the box above the stove, and started cookin’. I threw a bunch of plates and stuff on the table and got busy makin’ toast. Sure liked bein’ around her. Night or day, it didn’t matter. While she was gratin’ the potatoes for the hash browns I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She moved.

First thing I had done was get the coffee goin’, and Abe came into the kitchen and took a deep breath. “Ah.” He looked over Shirley’s shoulder at what she was cookin’ and smiled. “I’m gonna hafta teach Carol how to do that.” Shirley turned around. “You mean to tell me Carol can’t cook?” “Well, she’s got me about half-baked most o’ the time, but that’s about it.” “You asshole,” she said

from behind him. “Don’t you believe that shit, Shirley! I cook for him every time I stay over!” He grabbed her before she got a chance to get hostile. “I was only jokin’ Shirley! Carol’s a good cook. Ain’t ya baby ? My lil’ sugar. My lil’ punkin. My sweet lovin’. How ya doin’? Here sit over here, I saved your favorite chair for ya!” “Thank you, Abie,” she said with a big smile. Frank ‘n Suzy wandered in as Shirley divided up the stuff and took a seat. “Smells good. Hope I can keep it down.” “Whatsamatter Frank; sick?” “Suzy was fartin’ all night. Thought I was gonna puke.” “I was not!” He pulled her down on his lap and tickled the shit outta her with his handlebars and she got gigglin’ bad, then, thinkin’ it was prob’ly safe to turn her loose, let her go back to her chair. Carol said, “You guys are all crazy sumbitches, ya know that?”

It was a good breakfast. I raised my cup, “Here’s to the chef!” We all toasted her and she blushed. “Come sit on my lap, sweetheart. I’m ready for dessert.”

Sundays were always a little lazy, and we sat in the kitchen and played Hearts for a while, tryin’ to figger out what to do with the day. Suzy said, “We should go cruisin’. Ain’t been out on the road for a long time.” We thought about it. Wasn’t a bad idea. Colors were gettin’ better. We went out on the slab and gave the Merc a well deserved bath and coat of wax, vacuumed ‘er out, and cleaned the seats. “She sure is pretty,” Shirley said, smilin’ fondly at the car.

It was makin’ memories for all of us and we treated it with tender lovin’ care. I got under the hood and topped off the oil, fine tuned the three deuces while Abe played with the throttle, and wiped off the road film on the chrome. She was just as pretty under the hood. Then I cleaned the trash outta the trunk, dumped the water outta the cooler, and made sure my guitar hadn’t suffered from the bumpy ride last night. I got my old scuffed black leather motorcycle jacket out and shook the dust off of it. Hadn’t worn it since late Spring but it was in good shape. The Merc was ready to go.

I came to the front of the car wearin’ the jacket and Shirley looked at me for a long moment. “Wow. Ya really look like an

outlaw with that jacket on.” I flipped the collar up and struck a ‘cool’ pose for her, thumb in my belt, cigarette hangin’ in the corner of my mouth, one eyebrow raised. “Damn,” she says, and ran to me. “Did I make ya drool?” “Almost. Looked like Marlon Brando in that old biker movie. Jeezus, yer good lookin’!” “Well, we make a good pair then, ‘cause you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, my sweet little lover. Where do ya wanna go?” I set her back on the ground. Abe said, “We could make a run up past Scales Mound, take the blacktop toAppleRiver, maybe jog over to Warren ‘n Nora, then down toStockton. Come back through Woodbine an’Elizabeth. Some damn pretty rollin’ hills ‘n woods. Lotta trees turnin’.” “Awright. Let’s go load the cooler and fill the tank.”

       It’s easy to ride with someone you love. Don’t matter if ya feel like talkin’ or not. Nobody said anything ‘til we was halfway to Scales Mound and ‘Tears On My Pillow’ was playin’ on the radio. Shirley was curled up against me, watchin’ the scenery roll by, her warm little hand on my leg. “I wish summer was just startin’, instead of endin’. I missed out on a lotta fun with you guys.” “Yeah. Didn’t know ya then though, babe. Things gotta happen when they happen. Can’t change that. ‘Sides, how could ya heal my broken heart ‘til I got it broke?” She climbed up the side of me and kissed my neck, and put some Fall Colors on my face. “Don’t make me wreck the car!” The song ended and she said, “When we first met I cried on my pillow sometimes.” “Why?” “Well, ‘cause I wasn’t sure if you really cared for me. If you loved me. I thought maybe you just needed someone to ‘help ya over the hump’ and it kinda hurt some, ‘cause I fell so hard that first night.” I took my eyes from the dangerous curves and glanced down at her dangerous curves. She was lookin’ down at the floor.

I saw a dirt road leadin’ off into the trees and wheeled the Merc deep into the woods and shut it off. “Come with me.”

Took her hand and walked out on a big rocky point where we could see clear across the valley. I sat on a log and took her on my lap. “That first night with you was so beautiful I will never forget it.” I kissed her just like that first time. “Remember sittin’ on that rock, cryin’ ‘cause I was hurtin’?” “Yeah.” “I fell in love with you when I wiped your tears away. Right then. Every moment after that it just kept growin’ and my heart kept swellin’ with it. Made me as goofy as a little boy. I love you, and don’t ever want you to feel sad. I’m sorry I made you cry. When I showed you the hearts painted in the tunnel I shoulda said it. I shoulda told you then. Let’s pretend we’re back there, okay? That first night, in the tunnel.” “Okay. ‘He loves her. She loves him.’ Now what?” “I love you.” “Oh, Frankie.” We almost set the woods on fire with that kiss.

I parked in front of the bar in Scales Mound and we went in and fed the Jukebox and the other four played a coupla games of pool while me ‘n Shirley did some slow dancin’. Then we took a walk around town and read all the old signs on the walls of the feed store and the collapsin’ lumberyard. I had left the Merc’s keys with Abe and told him to come get us when they were ready to leave, and they came around the corner and picked us up. I let him drive, climbin’ in the back with Frank ‘n Suzy after tellin’ Carol to get up front with her man.

It was a little harder to see the scenery from back there but I had better scenery sittin’ right next to me, and spent the next twelve miles admirin’ it, real close up.

Abe rolled the Merc intoAppleRiver. “Wanna stop an’ have one?” “Yeah.” He hooked a left and crossed the tracks and drove down the shortMain Streetand parked in front of the bar. It was a cool lookin’ place, built back in the old minin’ and railroadin’ days, a Saloon. All the buildin’s had been constructed in the same period asGalenawhen it was in it’s heyday, and made us feel like we were takin’ a trip back through time. Just likeGalena, some of the stores were empty and had the windows boarded up, and there were only a few people on the street. Just likeGalena, some days…

The tavern had one of them cool molded zinc panel ceilin’s and a back-bar that coulda been used for a movie prop in a Western, and yeah, there was sawdust on the floor and brass spittoons. Neat fuckin’ place. The beer was cold, and we had a coupla rounds before leavin’. Nice people there. I took the wheel again and we headed out for Warren, my Lil’ Red sittin’ almost on my lap. Warren had a long curvin’ street with 1800’s style buildin’s too, a few of them also boarded up or with empty windows starin’ at the world and we cruised it once before turnin’ in at the main block where our favorite bar was located. A lot more people were in this one than the bar inAppleRiver. Out enjoyin’ the Fall Colors, I s’pose. A couple of the patrons looked like a lil’ exposure to the elements would do ‘em some good. Looked like they grew right outta them stools they were attached to. There were three pool tables, and we utilized a couple for a time while we dumped down a few brews, and shot the shit with some folks we knew, showin’ the girls how popular we were around the County. Everywhere we went we ran into one or two that knew us, and impressed them enormously.

Had enough and climbed back in the car, headin’ for the little town ofNora. There was a bar there too, and was always included when we travelled in this direction. Ya gotta have good pit stops, to drain off the brew ya ingested at the last one and on the road. The country had more or less leveled out once we got nearWarren, and was gettin’ kinda flat but there were nice lookin’ trees everywhere. We were more fond of hilly terrain though, after growin’ up inGalena. We had one beer and got back on the road.

Suzy asked Frank for another smoke and said, “I was inStocktononce. I like that tavern that’s on that side street. It’s kinda like the one inAppleRiver. They had a band there ‘cause it was Friday night. Band sucked.” Frank said, “Prob’ly.”

That’s where we went. Butch was there. He had some friends inStocktonhe had lived with for a time and went to visit now and then, and was damn glad to see us, and pissed about missin’ the big party. “Wish somebody woulda told me.” “Happened too fast, man. Two hours after we thought it up. There’ll be another one just like it next year though. Dave’s already workin’ on it. Don’t take much to get one goin’ though. When ya get back toGalenawe’ll throw one out at Al’s for ya,” Abe told him. “That’s cool. I’m headin’ up that way in a few days.” “Awright. Plan on next weekend, then. Friday night. We’ll make it a two day-er. This weather ain’t gonna last forever.” We hung out a while longer, then boogied towardElizabeth, bypassin’ Woodbine, and smokin’ through the curves down into the fun little town. It had three bars and we generously spent some time in each one of ‘em.

“We oughta swing down throughHanoverand take a run down to thePalisades. Them big bluffs are prob’ly the best damn scenery in the world about now, covered with trees like that,  right over theMississippi. Lot of neat little islands there too,” I said, and they all thought it was a good plan so I cranked a left on 84 and smoked south. It was a fairly decent road so I ran the Merc up to ninety and we flew over the hills. Four and a half minutes later I had to slow ‘er down to thirty. I didn’t need a damn ticket for speedin’. We crept through town and went around the block and parked in front of the corner bar. “Better load that cooler, ain’t but two cans in it,” Frank suggested, and we took it in with us.

We talked to a coupla the fellas in there for a bit then continued the journey. The Palisades were waitin’ for us.

Drivin’ through that area was neat, the Autumn colors every shade of the rainbow, and just south of town we got into the hills again, then out on the flats along the big river. “Oh look! The islands! Can we go to the islands some day Frankie? They’re so beautiful.” I looked down at her fabulous face, “Yeah. There’s some fine little islands up byGalenawhen you go outta Ferry Landin’. We’ll take my brother-in-law’s boat out tomorrow after work. Whatta you guys think of that?” Everyone thought it would be great. “I’ll have to call ‘n ask, but I know he won’t mind.”

We rolled into thePalisades. It was a well kept park with a bunch of secluded picnic areas, and once we got in the gate we started lookin’ for the perfect spot to spend the rest of the day. Drove around for twenty minutes and then Shirley said, “Stop here.” We were on a little knoll that was just high enough to give us a fine view of the river and islands, had two picnic tables, and a lot of shade trees that were amazin’, bright oranges, yellows, and reds. “I feel like I’m sittin’ in the middle of a painting,” my sweetheart said softly. Yeah. So did all of us. We were born Nature Lovers, and happy we had the opportunity to live in such a wonderful place asNorthwest Illinois. There might be prettier places in the world, but not to us. We got out and threw a blanket on one of the tables and set out the picnic lunch the girls had packed before leavin’ the penthouse.

It was a fine repast; ham samwiches, potato chips, a box of glazed donuts, a can of cashews, half a dozen bags of beer nuts, and some Snickers. Some of it was good with beer anyway. Afterward, on my lap on a stump near the road, Shirley said, “Ya gonna play the Harmony?” “Oh, awright.” I got up and got it outta the trunk and played some silly shit about love and stuff for her, then she said, “Make up a new one for me.” “Sometimes it’s hard to make one up, Sweetheart. It’s gotta just come to ya all at once, ya know? That kinda magic don’t happen all the time.” “You did it at Al’s.” “That was one of them magic times.” “Yeah.”

The sun was beginnin’ to set, and the colors in the clouds on the horizon combined with the colors in the landscape created a scene for us that would never be repeated and we knew it and sat there in awe. The rest of ‘em joined us there, watchin’ ‘til the last light faded from the sky. “Damn,” Suzy said, “that was really somethin’.”

“Well, gotta work tomorrow, let’s throw this stuff in the car and get outta here.” It was a dark ride, quiet, with the radio playin’ soft through the front and rear speakers, and we could hear Frank snorin’ in the back seat. Abe ‘n Carol were kissin’ in the corner, and Shirley turned back around and scooted a little closer, wrappin’ both her tiny hands around my arm and layin’ her head on my shoulder. I smiled and drove on. Got toGalenaaround ten thirty and dropped everyone off, and headed forDubuque. As soon as we were alone she said, “Ain’t we gonna park somewhere before ya take me home?” “If ya wanna.” “Yeah. I wanna.” Her hand slid up my thigh.

Later, when I got her home and was kissin’ her goodnight, she said, “Do you ever think about Judy?” “I won’t lie to you Shirley. I do. But not very often anymore, and never when you are anywhere around me. You fill me up, Honey.”

She smiled, “You never called me ‘Honey’ before. It’s sweet.” “Yeah. Fits. I love you, Honey.” “I love you too, Frankie.”

When I got to work that mornin’ a huge truck had just pulled into the yard with a load of the biggest damn logs I had ever seen, and was sunk up to the axles in the soupy mud. I punched in and went over with the group of men already there. “How the fuck ya gonna get that outta there, Ron?” “Well, it’s gonna take some doin’. Gotta get the logs off first. Go get the big loader, Frank. We’ll set the logs over on those eight by eights. Keep ‘em outta the damn mud.” “Awright, but where’s George? He always gets pissed when somebody else drives that thing.” “Called in sick. Broke his fuckin’ leg on water skis yesterday. I don’t know what I’m gonna do; prob’ly hafta hire another operator. ‘Til then, you’re it. Get goin’!” I walked over to the giant sumbitch of a thing. The seat was about eight feet over my head. Now, I had driven a coupla tractors before, but they was like a damn Tinker-Toy next to this. But I’d always wanted to run it. I started climbin’. Hell, it can’t be that hard.

Heh, heh, heh. Oh yeah? What the fuck are alla these knobs and stuff? A dozen gawd damn levers, too. Well, it had a clutch and a key. I’d start with them. Yeah. Popped right off. Ran on propane; you could smell the stuff pretty strong. Now, let’s see. Here’s the gearshift, can’t go wrong there. I put it in first and eased the clutch out a little. Yeah, that worked. Well, better get over to the truck. I turned the wheel and the whole machine swiveled some on the huge center joint and I eased out the clutch. Ah, nothin’ to it! I didn’t hit the truck too hard. I leaned out the window and yelled, “Hey Ron! How do ya work the forks?” He climbed up to the cab and showed me this ‘n that and jumped back down. They had already took off the chain binders and dropped the chains. Well. I had it to do…

Them big fuckin’ jaws opened. I pulled back on another lever and the arms raised. I had to back up a little; too damn close to the truck. Ah, that oughta do it. I played with the other levers, carefully, and reached out with the monster and took a bite on the top log. Pulled back on the right lever by accident and lifted it high in the air. Hey, this is goin’ pretty good! I put the machine in reverse and started to back up. Damn! Dropped the log! Right in the fuckin’ mud. I was pissed. Not half as pissed as Ron though. I could see his face turnin’ color and figgered I’d better quit screwin’ around. I got serious about it and picked the log up and took it over on the 8x8s, and went back for another one. This time I was a hair more careful when I put the bite on it, and things started to go a little smoother. It was a tough job though, and I never got real friendly with the machine.

Well, there it was. The logs were safe, but we still had to think about the stuck truck. It was one of them big sumbitches with a tag-a-long trailer. I didn’t think there was chance in hell of pullin’ it outta there. I climbed down from the cab. “Now what Ron? I can’t see me pullin’ it with the loader; too damn big.” “Yeah. We ain’t got a damn choice though. I’ll go get the other one. Maybe the two of ‘em will do it. Might hafta winch it out.”

We ended up jackin’ around with it, draggin’ it a foot at a time, for five gawd damn hours, missed our break, and were already late for lunch. I was startin to have fun with the machine, though. Almostone thirtywhen we got it out on solid ground. Ron chewed the shit outta the driver then, endin’ the ass reamin’ with. “and you can tell your boss I said so!” I wasn’t payin’ a whole lotta attention. It was the first time I hadn’t made it down toFourth Streetfor lunch since we met. Damn, I still had to move alla them damn logs again, and get ‘em ready to run the metal detector over ‘em. It was quittin’ time before I was done, but I hadn’t messed nothin’ up, after that first one.

She was waitin’ for me at her house at five. I had called the brother-in-law and got the okay from Denny’s before I left. We scurried over toGalenaand got everyone. They had everything ready, all we had to do was go to Ferry Landing and get the boat out. I was standin’ in the back by the transom pumpin’ the gas bulb when another boat pulled alongside. “Hey Frank, Abe, Frank, ladies. How’s it goin’?” I grinned at Fuzzy an’ his brother Dick “Goin’ fine. Whatta you fellas up to?” “Gotta pick up our girls down at the car and go out toSandIsland. Do a little swimmin’. Ya ain’t got some water skis do ya?” “Yeah, there’s a pair in here under the deck. I can’t part with ‘em though, they ain’t mine. Maybe we’ll see ya out there.”

Abe had squeezed two cases of cans into the cooler but only was able to get one bag of ice on it. That was awright; he bought it cold, and it would stay that way. The girls had brought hot dawgs ‘n stuff. We hoisted one as I drove out through the ‘no wake’ area and out past the buoys. Then we turned toward the Hydros and I opened it up. It was a sixteen foot Alumacraft Speedboat with bucket seats and a dash ‘n windshield, runnin a 35 Johnson, and even with six of us in ‘er she flew right along. I saw a big barge goin’ the other way and cranked the wheel and we hopped across the nice waves it threw up, then I got back on course and a little later ran it up on the sand. It wasquarter to sixbut it wasn’t gonna get dark for a few hours yet.

They had all wore bikinis under their clothes. Shirley was blue, Carol was yellow, and Suzy was red. Made it easy to tell ‘em apart when they were runnin’ off to the bushes. We never did see Fuzzy ‘n Dick again that night, but that was awright. We hadn’t planned on havin’ everybody on the river droppin’ in on us. This was a private party.

They all looked beautiful, damn near naked like that, and we were kinda the jealous type, if ya know what I’m sayin’, and didn’t really wanna share their good looks with anybody else. Not tonight. I took ‘em out on the water one at a time on the skis , keepin’ a close eye on ‘em in case they got in trouble, but no one did. Then Abe dragged me up and down the river a coupla times, and him ‘n Frank took turns. That was enough of that. I got a driftwood fire goin’ and Carol jacked with the portable ‘til she found WLS. Got to sit there and watch ‘em dance in the sand in them bikinis at eye level while the boys got the boat tied up. I was ready for a snack.

There was a lotta driftwood there, so we drug a bunch of it around the fire and made seats, throwin’ a little more in now and then. Bugs weren’t too bad. Yeah. I laid back against the log and popped another can of Blue.

We had hung out on the river a lot as younger boys, goin’ way back to when I was eight years old, myself. It was somethin’ ya had to do if ya were an adventurous sort of person livin’ that close to that much water. Always felt like explorers and stuff. Fur Trappers! Injun Fighters!! She slid down next to me, “Whatta ya smilin’ about?” I told her and she grinned, “You’re still a little boy sometimes.” “I know, and I hope I never lose it.” “Me too!” We watched Frank ‘n Suzy splashin’ each other while Abe and Carol got the hot dawgs cookin’. “How come we didn’t meet when summer first started? We both went to East Dubuqueat the same time to the same bars. It doesn’t seem possible that we didn’t notice each other! Look what happened that night we finally did! Do you wish we’d met then too?” “You know I do, sweetness. Way before that, too. I wish I had known you my whole life. I feel like I have though. I know you better’n I ever knew anyone else!” “You’re teasin’!” “Not very much! I know I woulda loved you if I was five; look how your little brothers feel about you!” Her sparklin’ blue eyes searched my soul through mine for a long time, and believed what I said, and after kissin’ me she slid down me and laid her head on my belly. I said, “Careful, you’ll embarrass me.” I had green stretch trunks on.

The trees were pretty down on the river too, and walkin’ from one side of the island to the other we could see both sides. It was cool, but we couldn’t see much of the hills and deep timber from where we were. What a fabulous sunset though! The whole sky looked like it was on fire, and it lasted for more than ten long minutes. “Jeezus,” Suzy said, “I just love that shit!” Frank shook his head and wandered off to piss in the river. We all jumped in, on the other side of the island, and took a last swim, stayin’ in the water for a half hour. Shirley said, “Feel me,” when she swam close. I did. All over. She was naked. “Whatta ya doin’, babe? We’re gettin’ ready to leave!” “Ya didn’t think I was gonna put my clothes on over a wet swim suit did ya?” I felt her again. All over. Jeezus…

The boat had lights, and we made it back to the Landin’ safely, put the boat away, and went to the penthouse to play cards for a while. I knew she was naked under her pants ‘n blouse, ‘n she knew I knew, and kept touchin’ me under the table and smilin’. “Quit teasin’ me!” “I ain’t teasin’.” “Whatta ya call it then?” “A promise.” A coupla minutes went by. “Well,” I said, pushin’ my chair back, “I guess we oughta be goin’. Gotta punch that clock bright ‘n early.” “Yeah, hell wif it. You ready to go to bed Carol?” “Been ready sincenoon,” she said with a grin. Frank ‘n Suzy had already disappeared.

I took the road toward Menominee, wantin’ to cross theEaglePointBridge. It was a narrow sumbitch and had a sharp bend in it on theWisconsinside, but was fun. In the daytime you could look right down through the grates you were drivin’ on and see the water right under ya, and the tires made a strange moanin’ sound when the car moved anything faster than ten miles an hour. She had never been across it before and got kinda excited. I took her up in thePointPark. Parked where the moon shone down on us. Before I got the car shut down she was bare. We were flyin’ high as Eagles in two minutes flat. A pair. Mates. Wow.

I didn’t get her home ‘tilquarter to fourin the mornin’ but she didn’t care. “I’ll just drink more coffee today. You be careful at the mill!” “I will, Honey, don’t worry. ‘Bye”

Man! Was I one tired sumbitch when I got home that night! I was too wore out to drive, so I called her at five. She said her ass was draggin’ too, and she was goin’ to bed as soon as she got outta the tub. “Wish I was there.” “Me too. Gonna pick me up tomorrow?” “Yeah. Wanna go to a movie? Drive-In’s only a coupla miles from yer house.” “Sounds great. What time?” “Same time. Well go toSandy’s or Jim’s and have burgers ‘n fries ‘n Root Beer Floats.” “Yeah! Love ya Frankie.” I heard a big yawn on the phone and smiled. “You better go to bed first ‘n take a bath later, I don’t want ya drownin’ on me. ‘Night.” “’Night.”

I crashed on the couch and didn’t wake up ‘til almost five. I was in the kitchen brewin’ coffee when Denny came down. We had a cup ‘n talked for a while and he went off to work. So did I, after cleanin’ up the mess I made on the stove with the bacon grease.

Had to drive that big sumbitch again most of the day but I was startin’ to like it. Didn’t like the damn mud though. Got it stuck a coupla times but Ron was able to pull it out. Late in the afternoon he told me a guy who had worked at Deere ‘n retired was gonna come to work part time and run it ‘til George was back on his feet. He needed me in the mill. I punched out at four and went home an’ got cleaned up.

We went to Sandy’s over on Dodge Street. I parked the Merc under the canopy next to a chopped 47’ Olds coupe, and read the menu. “I think I want a cheeseburger, onion rings, ‘n a root beer float. How ‘bout you, Shirley?” “Get me the same thing, then I can’t bitch about yer breath.” I smiled as I reached out and pushed the button. The girl’s voice in the speaker said, “May I take your order?” I relayed it, and we got out and wandered around for a coupla minutes. A bucket T was sittin’ next to my pal Animal’s ’37 Ford pickup. The truck was bright red and had a Casper the Ghost painted on the side, and a souped up 283 Chevy motor under the hood. I had ridden to E.D. with him one night. He blew third gear jackin’ around with it, and we hauled ass all the way across the bridge in second gear, way over a hundred miles an hour. Shoulda heard that gawd damn motor scream. “Hey Animal, what’s goin’ on? Get that tranny changed yet?” “Gotta find one first. I ain’t goin’ nowhere anyhow; no rush.” We talked to Joey, sittin’ in a ’64 Impala ragtop with Jazz ‘n three other guys that all frequented the Fourth Street, and went back to the car. The young gal on skates was comin’ with our tray. I opened the door for my honey and climbed in, rollin’ the window up two inches so the girl could set the tray down on its hooks ‘n legs, slid her the cash with a dollar tip. “Mm. Smells good,” Shirley said, when I handed her the basket. It was, too, and so were the floats.

I threw a wad of the Sandy’s napkins in the glove box after we were done and fired up the Merc, backed outta our space, and crept out on the highway, then goosed the ol’ girl and smoked the tires down Dodge. My girl was grinnin’, “I love it when ya do that! They’ll be talkin’ about the Merc the rest of the night.” We cruised downtown and cut the gut half a dozen times, finally pullin’ over between Eighth ‘n Seventh and parkin’. A dozen kids were hangin’ out, leanin’ up against the buildin’s and sittin’ on cars wishin’ there was a party at Daytonville Hill or some damn thing to do.

I picked my babe up and set her on the fender of the Merc and leaned back next to her. “Gettin’ kinda cool out,” she said, rubbin’ her arms. I reached in through the window and grabbed the old leather jacket and put it around her shoulders. The kids gravitated our way. We hung out ‘til it was time to go to the show. “Do ya know what’s on the movie tonight?” “Ain’t got a clue. I don’t really care, either. Prob’ly won’t see it anyway, whatever it is,” I said slyly, smilin’ at her. She laughed. The Drive-In. More people got laid out there than in the rest of DubuqueCounty. It was a big love nest, with all the facilities. Coolers fulla beer, bathrooms, food, cartoons, movies, and back seats. And, almost everybody there knew each other in some fashion. It was a party, if ya wanted to get out and screw around. I intended to do alla my screwin’ around inside the Merc.

We watched that silly cartoon with the lil’ black boy and the crazy Macaw hoppin’ around, then Heckle ‘n Jeckle, then all the ads for the concession stand, then the movie started. Jimmy Stewart. Watched the whole thing. Don’t know why. We visited the concession stand and got some buttered popcorn after usin’ the can.

Then, the one I wanted to see; Riverof No Return. Marilyn Monroe ‘n Robert Mitchum. I thought it was the best damn performance of her life, and Shirley agreed, sayin’ it was prob’ly a high pointfor Mitchum too. “Yeah. He was pretty good in Thunder Road, though.” After the movie I took her home. I know it would have surprised some people, but we didn’t spend all of our time boogerin’. We were savin’ ourselves for the weekend, and had kissed and stuff almost enough at the drive-In. I went in with her and sat in the kitchen with Mom ‘n Dad for a while, and me ‘n her Ol’ Man shot the shit about old movies for a while. He had just watchedNorthwest Passage. Them old explorers were his heroes. I told him I thought them wild Injuns made the show, though.

We played a coupla games of cards with ‘em and then went out and sat on the swing set and played around in the dark.

The late nights didn’t bother us much when we went to work in the mornin’; hell, we were young, just doin’ what we were s’posed to. Friday was comin’ up fast. Thursday evenin’ we just sat around her yard and played with the little brothers for a few hours. We wanted to rest up, knowin’ we prob’ly wouldn’t get much sleep again ‘til Sunday night.

I picked her up after work Friday and we went down to Penney’s and I got her a black leather jacket that kinda matched my old leather, and some black stretch pants. She came outta the dressin’ room and all I could think was; WOW! The best lookin’, sexiest woman in the Tri-States was standin’ right there in front of me. I wiggled my eyebrows at her and said, “Hot! Let’s get over to the penthouse and see if that party at Al’s is gonna happen.” Some of the kids on the street asked what was goin’ on, and I gave ‘em directions to Council Hill ‘n Al’ place, then we took off. After we got outta the East Dubuque city limits I opened up the deuces and buried the needle across the flats, then had to slow down to eighty five for the corners. It was a little hairy towards the top of the hill and we slid a little but came right out of it and I punched ‘er to the floor again, smokin’ past the Hilltop tavern and down over the slope at a hundred ‘n five.

I slowed for the Y and we rolled past the Golf Course and squealed the tires a little goin’ around the corner with the big pines and drove by the Palace Dance hall. I saw a sign that said ‘Dance Sat. Night’ and grinned. Yeah. Maybe we’d take that in, too. Got down to the bridge and hung a left on Main. Went through the flood gates ‘n past the buildin’ my family lived in on the third floor. The Sportsman’s looked busy as we went by and there were a few dozen people goin’ in and outta the stores. I pulled in at the Texaco and got out and had Ritchie fill the tank. “Stayin’ outta trouble?” “So far. What’re the boys up to?” I had gone to school with his son before I went to the School Of Lower Learnin’, Saint Charles. “Same ol’ stuff,” he said, and I gave him the six bucks, got a coupla packs of smokes, and drove up the street and parked in front of the Stanley Theatre.

Already people were gatherin’ out front. John said, “Party at Al’s, huh? Shit, I ain’t gonna get outta here ‘til eleven.” “I’ll save a spot for ya.” I took her arm and led her across the street to the Millhouse Hardware store and bought a battery powered lantern and a coupla new flashlights and asked, “See anything ya need?” “We should get Al a new sleepin’ bag. The nights are gonna start gettin’ cold pretty soon. He needs a new coat too.” “Yeah he does. We’ll tell him it’s an early Christmas present, from the two of us.” She kissed me right there in front of my uncle, Ma’s brother Joe, workin’ behind the counter, and he got a big shit-eatin’ grin on his face. He didn’t have to ask me how I was doin’. His wife was a redhead too. Irish.

We carried the stuff across the street and went through the door by Moes’s and up the stairs, bangin’ against the cracked plaster, and out the back. Abe ‘n Carol were out on the slab takin’ inventory of the things we were gonna take out to the party and he grinned when he saw us. “Gonna hafta take both cars tonight. I got half the stuff stuffed in the ’56. You get to haul alla this shit out.” He had the big fuckin’ tent rolled up and tied on the roof of the black coupe, and I nodded approvingly. “Where’s Frank ‘n Suzy?” “Well, the silly fuckers are in jail down inRockford. Tried to burgle some damn department store. Bond’s too high to get ‘em out.” “Prob’ly won’t see him again. Sumbitch broke parole.” “Yeah. I thought he was all done wif that shit. Too bad.” “Yeah. Seen Butch yet?” “Him ‘n a bunch already went out. They got Elmer’s truck to haul the kegs ‘n stuff, then they gotta take it back. I tried to talk the ol’ boy into goin’ but he said he was too damn old fer that kinda shit.” Carol said, “Damn Shirley, you look hot. Where’d ya get that stuff?” I jogged down the alley and walked down to the Theatre to get the Merc.

It was almost seven when Shirley and me’ got to Al’s. Abe had saved me a spot for the Merc right next to the ’56, and he had the tent down off the car but hadn’t got it up yet. Butch and Pete came over to lend a hand, and Shirley helped me unload. “Let’s say hi to Al ‘n give him his presents.” His old toothless smile stretched from ear to ear when we walked up to him. He still hadn’t had a bath. Ah well. Shirley hugged him anyway. “Hi, uncle Al. We got some stuff for ya. Here, lemme help ya put this new coat on.” It was almost like dressin’ a floppy child he was so feeble, but we got it on him, and I took the sleepin’ bag in and stretched it out on his bunk. Put the new battery lantern next to it. Now when he got up in the middle of the night to piss out the door he wouldn’t hafta wait ‘til he got the kerosene lantern goin’. Hell of an improvement.

The tent was up and Carol had some brats cookin’ on the grill out front. “How many ya want, Frank?” “Three. Ain’t ate all day.” Shirley said, “I just want one. Where’d ya put the buns?” “All that stuff’s in the tent on the card table.” I looked at Abe, “Card table. Gettin’ pretty fancy, ain’t we?” “Got the room, wifout Frank ‘n Suzy wif us.” I nodded. “What side of the tent me’n Shirley get?” “Take yer pick.”

We set up our little bedroom then, so we didn’t hafta do it in the dark half drunk later. She never stopped smilin’. Me either. It was gonna be a fine, fine night in the country.

She pulled me down on the sleepin’ bag, to see if it was gonna be soft enough. We had the blanket and pillows from the car in there too. I thought it was just fine ‘n dandy, but it was kinda hard to tell with her under me like that. We relaxed there for a while, holdin’ each other real close, until Carol yelled, “Come ‘n get it!” “Damn, I almost went to sleep,” she said. “Me too. C’mon.” I pulled her to her feet and we went out to dine.

A few more tents had popped up over on the flats. Couldn’t tell who they were from here. Butch had one of them pup tents and him ‘n some cute little Mexican gal were makin’ a weekend home for ‘emselves not too far from ours. Carol called ‘em over to eat with us and he said, “This is Yolanda. Met her in Savanna the other day.” Carol said, “Hi, Yolanda, want some chips with yer brat” “Que pasa?” “Ah, she don’t talk English too good.” He rattled off a buncha shit to her and she smiled and nodded. She was only about five foot and ninety pounds. Pretty.

Shirley took my arm. “I saw that.” “What? Oh. Well, she’s good lookin’, ain’t she? Nothin’ like you though, Honey. Nothin’ like you.” That pacified her, and we sat down in the lawn chairs and ate our stuff. The way Butch was lookin’ at Yolanda I could tell what he was gonna have for dessert. I looked at Shirley and licked my lips. She laughed.

I got up and filled my two gallon water cooler from the keg and took it back ‘n poured a round. Abe raised his cup to me’n Butch, “Let the festivities begin!” We walked over and sat by Al, makin’ sure he was well supplied for a half hour, and when he started gettin’ the silly grin on his face we left him with a bunch of girls who had just got there and walked down to the tunnel. I got the can of paint outta the bag. “Gonna do it, huh?” “Yup. It’s time. I’ll bring her down and show it to her right before it gets dark.” I sprayed a big heart on the wall, and painted ‘Frankie+Lil’ Red’. Abe said, “Gimme that can.” We watched him spray the shit outta the wall. “Gawd damn, Abe, if she don’t like that thing you’ll have to bring a whole gallon o’ paint out to cover it up.” “Aw, she’ll like it. Got a good sense o’ humor. Most days!” “Yeah, well, she’s gonna need it.”

It was cool. Butch said, “I ain’t puttin my gawd damn name up there. Not unless I get lucky.” Went back up the hill and back to the tent. Filled the cups. “Hey. Shirley. Wanna go for a walk?” “Yeah!”

She took my hand and we wandered around through the growin’ crowd sayin’ hello to everyone, got another beer from the tap, and I maneuvered her toward the tunnel. “Hey. Look up there on the wall.” She looked. “Aw, Frankie! Oh my gawd!” Abe’s artwork looked kinda neat, from my point of view. It was a rough circle with ragged edges, and it said; ‘Carol’s bangin’ Abe bowlegged!’ With a wiggly line under the bowlegged part. I laughed pretty hard, then she did too. “Boy, is she gonna be pissed,” Lil’ Red said, and we went up the hill, still laughin’.

Bernie ‘n Steve came up the hill a few minutes later, said hi to the host, and came over to the tent. Bernie said, “Done a little paintin’, huh? Saw it on the wall. Whatta you doin’, Butch?” “Tryin’ to get laid, what else? Ya gettin’ any?” Steve grinned, “Always lookin’,” and wandered off, lookin’ for some. Bernie stayed, Shirley givin’ him a big hug when I looked over at ‘em. Cool. Bernie’s face was gettin’ red when she turned him loose. I said, “Come on, Bernie, let’s get drunk!” He was all for it, and plopped down in one of the chairs with a full cup. “Where ya been all week? When ya gonna take me with ya? I never hardly see ya!” “Hey, Shirley’s got a cute little cousin, maybe we’ll take you both to the Drive-In with us next week. They’ll be closin’ pretty soon.” “What’s she look like?” “Kinda like me,” Lil’ Red told him, “but she ain’t got much for tit yet. Cute.” “No titties?” He had a sour look of disappointment on his face. He wanted to get his hands on some tits. He didn’t care if they were on a camel! He was fourteen awready! “Whatsamatter?” she says. “No titties at all?” “Oh, she’s gettin’ ‘em, but she’s only thirteen. You’ll like her.” “How big are they?”

Me ‘n Abe grinned at each other. I said, “Hey, ya gonna take Carol down to the tunnel?” “ Maybe tomorrow. Might not, too!” We laughed. I said, “C’mon, we’ll go down with ya! She’ll think it’s funny, won’t ya Carol?” “Won’t I what?” Shirley ratted Abe out, and the two of ‘em headed for the tunnel. We got up and followed but stayed back in case Carol went nuts or somethin’. All of a sudden we heard ‘em both laughin’, the tunnel amplifyin’ the sound, and Abe heaved a big sigh of relief. “I was kinda thinkin’ she’d cut my sack off. Let’s go down.” They were standin’ there admirin’ the artwork when we strolled in. “You crazy sumbitch, Abie,” then she laughed again. “You’ll think bowlegged when I get ya in the tent tonight!” She threw her arms around him and started suckin’ on his neck. I took my Honey’s hand and walked on through the tunnel to watch the cars comin’ down the lane and parkin’. They were backed up almost to the other tunnel awready. She said, “I was wonderin’ if ya were ever gonna do it.” Those sweet arms went around my neck and she thanked me properly.

Kids from all over the tri-States were comin’ in, Hazel Green, Cuba City, Dubuque, Apple River, Scales Mound, Elizabeth, ‘n Hanover. Our cups were empty and we went back up by the fire that was shootin’ sparks up into the dusky sky.

“Hey Abe, Butch musta sent out telegraphs to every damn town around or somethin’. I ain’t ever seen a lotta these kids before.” Butch went into denial, “Aw, I just told a few people.” “Where at?” “Uh, lemme see, well, Hanover, Stockton, Savanna, uh, oh yeah, Elizabeth, and uh, I don’t know, maybe a coupla other places.” “Yeah, gawd damn telegraph. Ain’t gonna be enough beer.” “Well, I told ‘em all they gotta make a donation.” “Better go get it from ‘em, and send somebody to the Liquor Store,” Abe said. He watched him jog away. “Damn. Won’t be able to take a piss with that many drunk fools under my feet.” “Aw, when they start findin’ out they gotta walk a coupla miles to get here, they’ll turn around an’ leave.” “Yeah, but we’ll have a hundred of ‘em here by then. Won’t even be able to see the damn fire. I was thinkin’ maybe twenty or thirty, ya know? This is gonna be a damn circus, wait ‘n see.”

I was afraid he was right. Babysittin’. Oh well. I walked around and picked some of the bigger boys outta the crowd and told ‘em to go over by Abe’s tent. When I thought I had eight or ten I went back. Abe sorta knew what I was up to. I looked ‘em all in the eye, one at a time. “Which one of you thinks he can kick mine or Abe’s ass?” Not a damn one of ‘em did. “Well, then, you must think me or Abe can kick your ass.” They all nodded enthusiastically. “Awright, now, I ain’t lookin’ for a fight. I don’t want nobody else lookin’ for one either. It ain’t allowed out here. You fellas have just been elected to babysit with all your friends. Me ‘n Abe don’t know ya, and we didn’t invite ya, did we? Awright. Anyone you know gets in a fight or gives somebody else a hard time, you’re the one that’s gonna get stomped. You know what I’m sayin’? Ya don’t like it, get the hell outta here, and take alla yer pals with ya. Now, ya stayin’, or ya leavin’?” They stayed. “We’ll be keepin’ an eye on ya, an’ you better be keepin’ an eye on them,” Abe said, with a mean grin. A couple of ‘em had been at Dave’s and wanted no part of Abe when he was pissed, or me either. We heard ‘em talkin’ about that other party as they walked off.

Shirley and Carol were a little concerned. Abe told ‘em, “Ah, our damn weekend is prob’ly ruined. Maybe not though, hafta wait ‘n see.” Shirley sat on my lap when I plopped down on the lawn  chair. “You can be a mean sumbitch when ya wanna be, can’t ya?” “Yup. When I wanna be. I’m a fuzzy lil’ puppy with you though, sweetheart.” “I know,” she said from a half inch away, and put her lips on my mouth.

There were eighty four people in that little area when we counted ‘em later, after they stopped comin’ in. Every once in a while we made a tour of ‘em, lettin’ ‘em know we hadn’t been bullshittin’ ‘em. Butch showed up with three more kegs, and the people there were settlin’ in for the long haul, and gettin’ friendly. We decided it was gonna be an awright night and went back to the tent to be with our sweeties.

It was too. No arguments, no sudden loud noises, and the strangers all wanted to meet old Al, and be adopted into his circle of friends. Like I said before, he was an easy old man to love. Everybody’s Grampaw. Their real ones wouldn’t let ‘em drink! A lot of ‘em left before midnight, ‘cause of the damn Illinois Curfew and we were glad to see that, but damn near forty of the local kids were there ‘til around four thirty. That was okay; we had them trained.

There was still a whole keg that hadn’t been tapped. We were savin’ that for ourselves. Abe told Butch, “Next time don’t get so carried away. We said we’d throw a party for you, not the whole damn state.” “I’m sorry guys, I won’t do that again.” Shirley said, “Do it for Dave next time he throws one! He’d appreciate the help.” “I’ll talk to him,” he grinned, and crawled in the pup tent with Yolanda, who was wonderin’ what the hell was goin’ on. Butch had told her there was only gonna be a dozen or so people at the party, and she had been scared nearly to the point of foulin’ her panties ‘til they started to thin out.

We rolled the last keg over to the big tent and put it inside. The one that was tapped was still more than half full, and we worked on that for a while along with the diehards. Abe told me, “I’m afraid our little parties out here at Al’s are gonna get way too big, now that alla them people know he’s out here.”

“Could happen, easy enough. It ain’t often ya find a place like this. Damn. I don’t wanna have to babysit out here every week. I wanna come out here to get drunk like we always did!” “Well, gets too gawd damn rowdy we can put the skids to it real quick.” “Might hafta hurt some of ‘em though.” “Done it before.” “Yeah. Too bad Frank ‘n Wilkie ain’t gonna be around. Wilkie got nailed the other day too. Oh well. Lil’ Red! Where you at! I need you!”

“I’m right here Frankie. Wanna go to bed?” “Yeah. I need comfortin’ babe, I’m all bent outta shape from this shit. Gawd dammit, I gotta go report to my parole officer Monday. If I’da walked in there with split knuckles or a black eye I woulda been screwed. Ya know that? I awready been to that reform school twice. If I go back I don’t get out ‘til I’m twenty one damn years old.” I wasn’t s’pose to get off parole ‘til then either, but the agent liked me and thought I was doin’ good, and was workin’ on cuttin’ me free when I turned eighteen. But not if I fucked up again. It was a lotta stress for a boy my age to carry around. That damn reform school was dangerous. People got killed down there. I had seen some horrible shit happen there, and had no wish to ever see it again. “C’mon. Come with me. I’ll make it all better.” “Yeah. See you later,” I said to Abe ‘n Carol.

She made a little bit of heaven in that sleepin’ bag. I found myself feelin’ better than I ever had before in my entire life. A bad boy findin’ true love is an enormous thing, a mountain to climb, and now I was on the downhill slide. Wow. “What is it?” “A revelation, Honey, a gawd damn revelation. I may never find Gawd, but I sure found my Angel. You mean more to me than anything or anyone ever has.” We didn’t get much sleep.

I wandered back outta the woods about nine and saw Abe drainin’ the last of the beer outta the keg. Four other tents were on the other side of the clearin’ and the people were beginnin’ to stir. Butch and the cute lil’ Mexican crawled out for some fresh air. Carol was boilin coffee in the tin pot. Old Al opened his door and let it all hang out, takin’ his mornin’ piss. “This is a little more like it,” I said to myself, depositin’ the toilet paper where the girls could find it, and went over by Abe. “That stuff still cold?” “Yup, here, have one.” “You sleep any?” “Yeah, three hours prob’ly.” “Me too. Just enough. Who the hell is campin’ over there?” “Ain’t sure. I walked down by the tunnel and saw two vans. Illinois plates.” “Let’s go look at ‘em.”

Abe said, “How ya doin’?” A fella about forty looked up from fryin’ bacon ‘n eggs in an iron skillet. “Well! Good morning boys!” “Where in the hell did you come from?” “Oh, we’re from Belvedere, over by Rockford.” “Yeah. But how the hell did you end up out here?” “Well, we saw a lot of vehicles coming this way when we were in Galena, and just followed them.” “Why? Where did ya think ya were goin’?” “Just riding. You know; the Fall colors. Thought we might find a Campground. Thought we did, when we saw the tents over there. Say, That was a damned fine party, but some of the people seemed awful young. My poor wife is still ill from all the beer she drank, and the others can’t even crawl out of their sleeping bags.” “Really. There’s four tents over here. How many people ya got with ya?” “Three other couples, besides my wife and I.” “Yeah? Well, this ain’t a campground, Jack, and it was a private party some asshole fucked up ‘n invited a bunch o’ strangers to. I ain’t sure we got room for ya here. Get them other fellas outta bed. I wanna take a look at ‘em.” “Well, you don’t have to get an attitude!” “Get yer ass movin’!” When the guy scurried into the tents to shake ‘em awake Abe grinned, “I always wanted to do that. What should we do? Run ‘em off?” “Let’s see what kinda people they are. They ain’t really hurtin’ nothin’ way over here. But, if one of ‘em’s an asshole, well, that’s a different story.” He nodded.

He lined ‘em up like he was a Drill Sergeant in the Marines and walked back ‘n forth shakin’ his head, hands clasped behind him. “Ya know, without an invitation, you fellas are trespassin’.” They all looked at each other and then back at Abe, kinda scared I thought. Abe rubbed his chin. “Well, whatta ya think I oughta do about it, call the cops?” “Oh, say, no, son! You don’t have to do that! Why, we’ll leave right now, if that’s what you want! No call for any animosity here!”

I thought they all looked like nice people. A little ragged from gettin’ drunk with a bunch o’ kids but other than that, decent folk. “Just how long were ya plannin’ on campin’ here last night?” “Only until Sunday. We have to be back in Belvedere tomorrow night so we can get to work Monday. We have jobs at the Chrysler plant.” “Ain’t none o’ ya’s criminals, are ya?” Abe asked, scowlin’. “No! Oh, Heavens no!” The women were horrified that someone would even ask them something like that!

I couldn’t help it, I just started laughin’. “Aw, hell with it, Abe, let ‘em stay.” Abe threw off his act and grinned at all of ‘em, “I was just fuckin’ wif ya. We don’t give a damn if ya stay. We still got a keg we ain’t tapped yet. We’ll share the beer if ya share the bacon ‘n eggs.” One of the older men started laughin’. “Man, we thought you were going to kick the shit out of us! Oh, fuck me I’m glad that’s over! Yeah, we got enough bacon and eggs for what? Four or five?” His wife nodded, “Yeah, four or five more people! Come on over for breakfast!”

We got Butch ‘n Yolanda, who was walkin’ a little funny, and Shirley ‘n Carol and went over for bacon ‘n eggs, bringin’ the coffee Carol had brewed, and the two gallon cooler fulla cold beer from the freshly tapped keg, which Abe ‘n me had thrown back in the ice after the diehards left.

They were nice people, hardly even cussed, and the ladies thought the girls were just beautiful, and such nice young women. I said, “They’re the nicest young women we know. Ain’t that right guys?” We all looked at each other and nodded seriously. “Yup.” “Yeah. Nicest.” The food was good, but there coulda been more of it. Thin sliced bacon. Lotta meat on it. Two eggs apiece. Yeah. No damn toast, though.

One of the ladies asked Shirley what us youngsters did for entertainment when we weren’t ‘camping’ and she said, “You don’t wanna know.” “Why?” “Well, we’re horny.” “Oh! Well. Did you hear that John?” John got a sly grin on his face and looked at one of the older fellas, and that one nodded. John said, “Uh, we belong to a Swap Club.” “A what?” “Wife Swappers. We trade.” “Oh, Jeezus!” Lil’ Red said, and ran back to the big tent. Abe shook his head sadly, “We don’t go for that kinda shit. You better pack up an’ get on down the road.” He wasn’t jokin’ this time and they knew it. They were gone in a half hour.

We watched ‘em drive out. “Gawd damn perverts,” Butch said. Abe smiled, “I wouldn’t say that too loud, after pokin’ that poor little Mexican girl in the ass all night.” We rolled around on the ground laughin’ for ten minutes. Butch stomped off, a little pissed, but he shoulda known better than to leave an openin’ like that, after bein’ in jail with us a number of times.

I got up. “Let’s go get Al outta bed. He oughta be boiled out enough by now to get a beer down..”

The old boy was ready, and we propped him up in his chair. “Did ya bring tha guitah, Frankie?” He was still drunk. “Yeah, Al. I’ll get it outta the trunk a little later. Gotta wake up first.” Shirley and the other girls joined us and I got ‘em all a cold one. I thought Yolanda was walkin’ a little funny! I looked over at Butch. “Perve.” He took a big swig o’ beer and looked off into the trees, extremely embarrassed. Lil’ Red said, “What’s so funny?” I couldn’t even tell her. Laughin’ too hard. Then, when I quit, I went over and whispered it in her ear. It was great to see her laugh like that.

I wanted to go swimmin’. The water was coolin’ but out in the direct sunlight it was still pretty nice, where it wasn’t runnin’ fast. Bein’ daytime we wore trunks and the girls had the bikinis on, ‘cept Yolanda. She was splashin’ around in her panties, her cute little titties bouncin’ here ‘n there. Nice. Shirley and Carol saw us lookin’ at ‘em and took their tops off too. I didn’t look at Yolanda anymore, with my favorites exposed to view. The effects of the night had wore off, and the lil’ Mex was movin’ a lot better, by the time we got outta the river. Al was sleepin’ in the old red lawn chair.

We had about half of the keg gone when Steve drove up in the yard and him ‘n Bernie climbed out. Shirley held her arms out and the kid went right over to her and got a bear hug and a big warm kiss, Shirley holdin’ his hand when she walked over to the keg with him. When I got next to ‘em she was sayin’, “Of course they’re not as big as mine, she’s only thirteen! She’s really pretty though. Wanna have me ask her?” “Pretty, huh?” “Yeah!” “Okay. I’ll go.” I said, “How ‘bout Wednesday night? It closes Saturday, and it’ll be too packed to get a good spot.” They thought that was a good plan. I’d only been to the Drive-In seven times all summer, but I’d miss it in the cold months ahead. Bernie ‘n Steve left.

Around seven a few cars started pullin’ in, bringin’ their own beer, and we had a nice little party that night, about fifteen people. Yeah. Nice.

That night by the fire with Shirley on my lap, good friends all around, old Al sleepin’ comfortably in the chair, and Abe ‘n Carol actin’ like they really loved each other, I started feelin’ like singin’. Then I set my sweetheart aside and got up and dug the guitar outta the trunk.

Carol said. “I wanna hear ‘Teen Angel’, and ‘Patches’.” I did my best, Abe helpin’, then sang ‘MoodyRiver.’ Then Shirley wanted to get back on my lap real bad and I laid the Harmony in the grass. Al was asleep, the smile still on his wrinkled old face.

We put him to bed and crawled into the sleepin’ bags. Lil’ Red whispered, “Them love songs sure get me goin’,” and rolled up on me. She was hot, and Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ played in my head over ‘n over for two hours.

In the mornin’ we dismantled the tent and cleaned up all the trash and burnt it. Butch was gonna get rid of the empty kegs so when the fire was good ‘n dead we went home Sunday afternoon, splittin’ up at the Council Hill crossroads, the ’56 headin’ for Galena, and the Merc overland to 84, down to 20, and west to Dubuque. We sat in the car in her yard for a coupla hours, then she kissed me goodbye and went in to get some rest. I wheeled the Merc down to 29^th and almost had to crawl into the house.

Ron put me to gradin’ lumber Monday after Dick shut the saw down. We had sawn a coupla dozen of the big walnut trees, and I was startin’ to drag ass a little. The veneer slabs were heavy; ten inches thick, two feet wide, nine foot long, and I had stacked hundreds of boards and rolled ‘em outta there, along with gettin’ rid of the trash slabs ‘n bark. Every piece of that stuff was wrestled around by hand. Mine. Gradin’ lumber was a damn welcome relief. Only thing was, I also had to stack it precisely on spacers so that when it went into the kilns it din’t come out like them twisted pretzels. I was glad when four rolled around, and went over to punch out. Ron asked me if I was interested in buyin’ his ’55 Ford hot rod with the big Buick engine. He had dropped the rear end and didn’t wanna play with it any more. “How much?” “Whatta ya give me for it?” “Well, I don’t really need it. Maybe a hundred.” “I’d take that. Said they’d only give me fifty at the Boneyard.” “Give me a week or two. Gotta find a place to put it.” “Sounds good. It’s yours.” Hmmm, another hot rod. Abe oughta like that.

When Wednesday rolled around we went and got the kids after work. Bernie and little Paula hopped in the back when we had ‘em rounded up, sittin’ as far apart as they could, and me ‘n Lil’ Red had to laugh at ‘em. A coupla Marilyn movies were playin’, Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but they didn’t care about that. “What cartoons are on?”

We got there and found a good spot and hit the concession stand and took ‘em over by the swings to eat the pizza, hot dawgs, and buttered popcorn. I didn’t want that stuff all over my seats. Had to wait almost an hour before it was dark enough, then settled in to watch Marilyn fall in love. No plot, but everybody was beautiful and we didn’t really pay attention anyhow, kissin’ like we was. We heard some gigglin’ and stuff comin’ outta the back seat and figgered the kids were doin’ fine and didn’t pay attention to them much either.

Until we heard her say “Ouch!” We looked over the seat. Shirley said, “Hmmmm. Oh, well.” Paula’s legs were wrapped around Bernie’s ass. Thank gawd they still had their pants on. I pulled her back down into the front seat. “It’s your fault, Red,” I told her, laughin’. “I know. I thought they might at least get to know each other first, though.” “Looks like they know each other pretty well.” “Yeah.”

The movies sucked but we stayed ‘til they played out, then, makin’ sure the kids hadn’t hurt each other, took ‘em home. They were holdin’ hands and smilin’ all the way.

I put in a tough week, and lil’ Shirley ran her legs off at the Café. Thursday night I called her and after talkin’ sweet stuff for a while said, “I’ll pick ya up at five tomorrow ‘n we’ll head over to Galena.”

Had to put our jackets on when we got outta the Merc. The fall colors only came around with the cold, and the leaves were startin’ to brown up and drop, remindin’ me of the song my cousin Dick wrote. I told Shirley about it. “How does it go?” We were sittin’ on the slab behind the penthouse, and I got the guitar outta the trunk. “Kinda like this. He had me try to put some music to it for him;

Lovin’ you has taken all my pride….

Lovin’ you took all I had inside….

Lovin’ you has been like…

Sweepin’ leaves Into the wind……

Now you’re gone and I still can’t see

What it was that made you flee…

Lovin’ you has been like…

Sweepin’ leaves Into the wind……

You took my heart…

And pressed it like a rose….

You were the dreams….

That I cannot disclose….

Lovin’ you has been like…

Sweepin’ leaves into the wind…….

Sweepin’ leaves into the wind….

“Gawd. She musta really broke his poor heart.” “Yeah. That’s what he said. He was pretty sad for a long time. Sorry I couldn’t remember the whole thing.” “You ain’t ever gonna write stuff like that about me.” I smiled. “No I ain’t! Let’s see if Carol an Abe wanna go to the Theatre. We can sneak a coupla six packs up to the Cry Room. Maybe help Mel run the projectors.” “Yeah!”

“Sounds like a plan. Carol?” “Sure, that’s always fun, and they let us in for nothin’.” I left the Merc in the alley and we walked down toMain Streetand ran into Bernie standin’ in front of theStanleywith Greg, smokin’ weeds.” “Gimme one of them,” I said, and he flipped me one of the Old Man’s Kools he had swiped. “You guys comin’ to the show?” “Yup. Goin’ up in the Cry Room. Nice ‘n dark up there.” “Can we come up?” “Think you can handle it?” “Fuckinaye,” the kid said. Abe said, “I’ll get three six packs.”

He brought a pint of Schnapps too, and we shot the shit with John for awhile and went in, got some popcorn, and went  up the stairs from the plush lobby. We had it all to ourselves. The seats were in rows that gradually rose ‘til the back ones were ten or twelve feet higher than the front and we flopped down in the middle, Abe ‘n Carol behind us, Bernie ‘n Greg in front, and opened the cans. “Ah. I been wantin’ one of these since Sunday.”

Some of the other kids came up to visit for a while but they knew we didn’t want ‘em there and didn’t stay long. When the cartoons were over Abe said, “You boys run along now,” and Lil’ Brother n’ his pal took off, half silly from the three beers apiece they had sucked down.

I don’t know what was goin’ on behind us, but me ‘n Lil’ Red threw our coats over our laps, and I can’t tell you what we pretended to watch as the movie rolled. Didn’t matter. We just came in to get outta the cold.

The lights came up a little as they changed reels, and we went to use the restrooms. Abe wiggled his eyebrows and grinned at me when we went down the stair. “Fun up there ain’t it!” “Yeah,” I said, wipin’ the sweat from my forehead. “A little warm though!”

About forty people had the same idea as us and were waitin to get in the cans. The lobby was full and they were sellin’ hot buttered popcorn as fast as it would pop, and bags ‘n boxes of candy and three sizes of soft drinks. We had our candy upstairs. Had to piss though.

The girls got in and out before we did and were waitin’ at the bottom of the steps talkin’ to John when we came out. He said, “Kinda cold out tonight. Wanna have a party here at the Theatre ‘stead o’ goin’ out road drinkin’? We can sneak a buncha beer in through the back on that board and set it on the stage.” “Cool,” Abe said, and I agreed with him. I had snuck in that way a few times and hadn’t killed myself yet. Abe said, “Just don’t invite the whole fuckin’ town!” John grinned, “I know who to invite, just leave it to me.”

We went up and threw our coats back over our laps. I still didn’t know what we were watchin’.

The lights came up finally and the Theatre emptied out. Except for the ones that John had whispered his secret to. A dozen girls ‘n guys were waitin’ around in the lobby, pretendin’ to read the show posters and stuff, when he locked the door and turned out the outside lights. Butch and Yolanda had showed up. John went around collectin’ and gave the loot to me ‘n Abe and we trotted across to the Silver Dollar and got six cases of beer and a coupla jugs. Abe ran up and got the ’56 to haul the stuff, and when we got up on Bench we carried it all across the plank. “Man. I gotta sit down for a minute. Scraped my damn leg comin’ in through the window.” I sat on the stage and took a look at it, Shirley helpin’. “Aw, that ain’t nothin’. Didn’t break the skin anyway.” I tugged my pants back over my sock and got up ‘n pulled my babe up on the stage. “Admit it, Honey.” “What?” “You’ve always dreamed of bein’ on the stage. Ya finally made it.” We laughed and a few more kids climbed up with us and got into the suds. Butch ‘n his sweet lil’ babe climbed up behind us. Shirley said, “Still together, huh?” “Yeah,” Butch told her, “I really like her. She’s a lotta fun but can’t dance too good. Had polio when she was a kid.” Abe coughed, “Uh, hey Butch, sorry about that pokin’ her in the ass stuff.” “That’s awright. I’ll get ya back sometime.”

John yelled from up front of the Theatre by the lobby, “Hey! Ya want me to run some cartoons!” Everybody in the place yelled, “Fuckinaye!”

We all took seats right up front so we didn’t have to go far to grab a beer, and sat back to enjoy the show. We were goin’ into our winter mode; Summer was gone.